War for One
by SoulSummoner
Summary: Based on Gundam Seed : !Warning! Rating is due to violence and strong language. Only time can tell what will change. Who's story will begin and who's will end.
1. Phase 1: The GDP Massacre

EDIT: OK, I've completely redone this chapter.. I looked back and re-read it… and er.. god was it painful!!! My writing really showed my age . I started writing it in 2004 and it's 2009!!! SWEET JESUS!! Lol I was what, 16 when I wrote it, and now I'm 21! Ok.. I'm gonna try really hard to write what's been in my head all these years. (re-watching the Gundam Seed Destiny completely rekindled the fanfiction desires in me!) SO! Re-read everything!!! I'm editing all chapters I have. I'll be slow with posts.. I'm sorry. I've got a lot school between me and writing.. ok well anyway!!! NEXT STOP, BETTER CHAPTER! (hopefully)

**The GDP (Gundam Development Project) Massacre **

Several years before the Cosmic Era (C.E.) There was a man named George Glenn. He was an intelligent man and always thought that mankind could do better. That the world around us had evolved but we ourselves had stayed very much the same. He thought that, that should change. Glenn lived and went to school in Heliopolis, the biggest colony currently in existence. He later realized that he was special, different than a normal person. He had evolved, he was the first.. but not the last.

Glenn was the first Coordinator, a person with heightened mental and physical abilities through genetic engineering. A Coordinator's body is stronger, faster and virtually immune to disease compared to that of a normal person. After Glenn studied himself and learned how to make other people Coordinators he released the information so everyone could benefit from his discovery.

Glenn married and had a son, Marcus Glenn, unbeknownst to anyone at the young age of 19. The marriage was kept in secret due to the rising prejudices and anger towards genetic engineering. Marcus was the second generation of Coordinators and in truth was a little stronger than his father, a little faster, a little smarter; he had advanced. Marcus was 12 when his father left Marcus and his mother for the space voyage to Jupiter. After 14 years George Glenn returned with Evidence 01. Evidence 01 was proof of extra-terrestrial life. Both father and son did research and studies on the bones but found little.

When my father, Marcus Glenn, turned 23 his father was assassinated by a Natural. A Natural: a person who has no genetic enhancement at all, and is.. well.. normal. The man had been jealous that he had not been born a Coordinator, and ever since this event there have been tensions between Naturals and Coordinators.

My father married Tair K. Lahara and adopted her last name to cover up his identity. My father was sure to keep the experiments of Evidence 01 going but he was determined to make a name for himself.. like his father had. Only the people within the units knew who my father truly was and so kept him as the leader of the company. The name Glenn soon faded and memories of him died in the riots in the street and the killing done in the name of purity.

My father believed in his late fathers ideas. He knew that the human race was ready to move forward. So he started his own project, The GDP or the Gundam Development Project. I was born 3 years before the project officially got under way. I don't remember much but as I got older my father constantly regaled me with the details of how "difficult" it have been with a toddler and having to handle a few thousand employees in a secret society.

The project was soon well underway and I grew quickly among the busy machinery and scientists. My father was attempting to build mobile suits, or Gundams (General Unilateral Nero-link Dispersive Automatic Maneuver). They were simply fascinating, so intricate. I fell in love with working with them, taking them apart and putting them back together. I wondered at how gracefully they moved and had a hard time believe they were still machines. Just wires, belts, gears, bolts, sheet metal, and glass all put together in what I considered a master piece.

Naturally we had many people working within project. Everyone was set to a task that they specialized in. There were particular groups that were good at making and working with the Gundams, these people were named 'Knowledgeables'. They're named were never listed and named mentioned. My father and I were amount the 200 Kowledgeables. My father headed the department and handed over responsibility of other factions to those he deemed worthy. The co-leader of the Gundam faction was my father's best friend Azuma Kayne. He was like the grandfather I had never had and I loved and treated him thus. He was actually one of the men who voted against my father to keep me out of the project to keep me safe. He felt it was my right and duty to know the workings of what I would one day inherit. My father was only mad about being outvoted for a little while and then all was forgiven and work resumed.

I was talented, which was another one of the main reasons Azuma had so strongly supported my joining the Knowledgeables. I was smart for my age, and I was 11 at this point. I was treated as an equal and my opinions and input on improvements were valued as if they had come from an adult. I was proud and very happy.

My father was a man of many close friends and he trusted them dearly. So, of course he made sure they took on the most important jobs and one of our most important and prominent concerns were security. This job was given to his high school buddy Gabriel Vasser. He was a decent man, well mannered and as my mother called him "proper". He was one of those guys that always said "Yes sir.", "No, sir." It aggravated me a little but we got on fine.

The project plowed on with out problems and created some of the finest technology ever seen. We made many Gundams like the Justice, Forbidden and Freedom. They were my father's pride and joy, his first almost perfect successes. Then there were my favorites, the Aegis and the Strike, mostly because my father and I worked on them together and almost no one else had touched them. Of course we had many others like the Raider, Buster, Duel and Blitz. The too were well made thought their abilities weren't as widely ranged as the others. I was proud of my father who had made all of this possible and soon we would be releasing them for greater space exploration. I was really sad about letting go of the things that I had invested so much of myself in and that I had made with my family but had promised that we would keep Aegis and Strike. I was quite frankly thrilled.

It was warm outside. Spring was coming and growing things were beginning to bud. A soft breeze wafted through the semi-underground hanger brining with it the scent of the cherry blossom trees growing outside. Many were staying late, which was not unusual. The rest had turned in to the residential quarter wing to sleep or enjoy the rest of a late evening. It was also my birthday. Well, it was almost my birthday. It was late but not yet the next day. I was sitting on the ledge of the cockpit doors of the Aegis with a computer in my lap. The OS was unfinished and I'd been working on it for days. Usually it was my dad or Azuma that worked on it but as a birthday gift dad was going to let me finish it myself! My father stood below, reclined in a chair his feet on the table. A pile of papers lay in his lap but they were ignored. His eyes were on his wife who stood at his shoulder. She was speaking, making animated gestures, obviously telling him an engaging story of something that had happened in town. Heliopolis was usually inactive and Tair rarely came back with anything more interesting than how the weather was.

"Goodness they were everywhere!" she was saying.

"How many?" Markus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, honey if they were _everywhere_ then that means they were EVERYWHERE!" she chuckled.

"Very odd. Heliopolis is a place of peace. A neutral colony; why would there be a riot about Coordinators here?" Marcus sighed sadly. His eyes unfocused as he thought of other things. Tair laid a hand on his shoulder an expression of understanding. Marcus smiled absently and kissed her hand and returned to his papers. Tair laughed quietly and headed several stations deeper into the hanger clipboard in hand.

I looked down at my dad. He flipped through the sheets on his lap, bright light from his left pouring over him outlining his strong profile. His vibrant green eyes scanned each page thoroughly before quickly flipping to the next. He adjusted himself in his seat brushing his red-blond hair from his face. He absently looked up and my father and my eyes met. He winked at me.

"Stumped? Want some help?" he called playfully.

I flushed a mildly angry red, "No, of course not!" I shouted back. My frown quickly drifted into a smile. Dad grinned back at me and with another wink returned to his work. Pushing my violet hair back from my face I turned my attention back to the laptop in my lap.

Hours felt like minutes to me. I flew through my work and hardly noticed the yelling when it started.

There was yelling in the main entrance and then gun shots. All the workers fled to their stations and began to arm themselves. Dad flew from his chair and ran to the man closest to him. There was screaming and shooting and panicking everywhere

"What's happening?!" I hear my dad shout. Cale, a young natural boy who had been my friend since our younger days, grabbed my dad's arm. He had a small cut on his left cheek.

"Sir, I-my god. They're shooting! I dunno who they are! There's many though sir!"

Still having a hold on Cale my dad turned quickly to look up at me, "Leer get down here now!" I'd never heard his voice sound like that, ever. It shook me to my core. Almost dropping the laptop I ran to the ladder that led to the floor level. Once below I ran to where they were.

"Stay with Cale, Leer." he commanded.

"No! Dad where are you going?! I'm NOT staying here!"

"No honey!" he grabbed my arm holding me away from him, "Please, listen to me!" The expression on his face, I could place it.

"I-"

He released me and ran off. I stood dazed staring after him until Cale grabbed my arm.

"Come, we can't stay here! We'll be fodder for those gunmen." he dragged me back the scaffolding of the Aegis.

Our people were making their best effort to arm themselves and fight back by getting into the mobile suits. I swear, if just one person had gotten into one all those men would have been ditched into a mass grave. The gunmen must have been well informed for they shot all who went near. My father wasn't far off fighting. A man fighting next to him fell to the floor, limp. Dad dodged behind a pillar avoiding bullets.

The invaders didn't miss a beat. They were scouring the place. There was no mercy for anyone, no prisoners. They were just shooting everything they saw.. anything that moved, breathed.. lived.

"None of these bastards leave this place alive!" one of the invaders shouted.

They began to advance towards us. Azuma came running to us, "We have to get out of here! They're killing everyone.. Absolutely no mercy.." he panted.

Dad ran back to us.

"Take her! Please.. Azuma.. protect her.. keep her safe." Azuma nodded and took me by the wrist. I'd had enough of being dragged around in a daze. I was being a fool. I could help! I could save people! My friends, practically family were being killed. I HAD to do something.

"No! Dad! I'm not leaving anyone!"

"Go Azuma!" Dad waved at us. Cale seeing the line of invaders advancing gave an sickened, angry look and fled down one of the many passages of the hanger.

I heard yelling and chanting. It sounded much like a victory chant. Dad a gun in his hand had it pointed at the line. They all had their guns set on him. Many more men were pouring around us going deeper into the hanger. My eyes were for my dad only.

"No." I whispered.

"Leerah! No come back!" I'd ripped myself free of Azuma's grip. I heard him give chase for a moment but then his footfalls faded. I stopped a few feet behind my dad.

"By Gods Marcus. You've put up much of a fuss. And for only giant hunks of metal that can walk?" the apparent leader said, "Hello Mark." I was Gabriel.

"Gabe… w-why…"

Gabe turned to a man, whose gun was set on my father "The exits are sealed. Make sure you finish the job. We can't afford to slip, it is a deep precipice we're on and we shall not fall to ruin. Not like this washed up has been." He nodded at my dad, his arms calmly behind his back. He rocked back and forth on his heels a slight smile on his face.

"This sinful place will be purged!" the man he had spoken to saluted and took a portion of the force with him.

"Purge.." my father sputtered.

"Yes the purge of you freaks, you _Coordinators_. You should have never existed! It was not meant to be! What the hell was Glenn thinking when he released such information to the public?! He made a super-race that would one day be bent on destroying us!" mutters of agreement went like a wave through the group.

"We cock and bull have you been listening to Gabriel…?" my father wide eyed with disbelief, his weapon still poised for action.

"Your intentions are hidden! It's in all of you! Those damn genes! All you rats think your better than our lot! I'll show all you morons who the better is!" Gabe advanced and bashed the gun from my dad's numb hands. He then backhanded him. My dad took a few falter steps back and he bumped into me. He gasped, not in pain but surprise. He hadn't known I was there.

"Yeah! Coordinators will ruin the world!" a member of the group shounted.

"Leer!" he hissed grabbing my arms, his grip was painful, "What the _hell_ are you doing-" He was cut off as Gabe smashed the butt of his pistol into the back of my dad's head. He gasped and fell to all fours but didn't pass out. I stood stunned and looked up at Gabe. He stood casually before me. He stood easy with a gun in his hand and blood on his hands.

"My Lady." He gave a faux bow. "Where they going to make you a Princess?" He grabbed me and dragged me forward. "LOOK AT YOU!" He threw me down before the soldiers. Half their guns were on me now the other on my dead. "A god damn freak of nature!" he crouched down next to me. "You're a sin. Did you know that? You aren't suppose to exist. A mistake that was never meant to be."

"Leer!" it was my mothers voice. I looked over Gabe's shoulder to see 4 men leading her to us, her hands tied behind her back. Her dark violet hair a mess, her lip broken and bleeding.

Gabe ignored the newcomers, "You all need to die." He said softly, serenely. He took a piece of my hair and toyed with it. I couldn't move. My mind was functioning but I couldn't move. My eyes stayed on my mom. I was scared…

"_DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT!_" my dad roared and tackled Gabe. They grappled. A shot was fired.

My mother and I stared at each other for a split second. Everything froze, time stopping to those it mattered most. The expressions said so much, shared so much. Love, affection, fear, compassion ..longing. Wishing for more time. Tair fell to the floor, limp, dead.

"_No…_" I whispered; the tears began to fall.

Dad had frozen, both he and Gabe clinging to each other. Dad stared at Tair, on the floor still bleeding but already long gone.

"Wha.. N-no.. TAIR!" he flew from Gabriel and to his wife's side. "Tair.. my love.. speak to me.. _please_.." he rested one hand on he top of her head the other on her cheek.

"Pity.. I truly did fancy her but I guess that would have been quite hypocritical of me to take her as my own in the end. Alls well that ends well I suppose." He smiled again straightening his clothing.

My father was weeping over mom. I was having trouble processing anything. Why was it so hard to move? It felt like I had tons of sand on top of me, hindering my movement and that lack of oxygen was making my mind sluggish. Gabe loomed over me his back to me facing my dad, talking. All I could so is listen.

"You're the one that has lost hold on humanity Gabriel.. look at what you've done!" my dad sobbed.

"I've done the world a favor this day. And the world should know she owes Gabriel Vasser this day and for all days! I'm a life saver Mark, a peace bringer. People will be shouting my name in the street for I've spared them the terror that was to reign down upon them." I'd managed to sit up at this point.

"What terror! You're MAD!" my dad looked into my mothers face the whole time. He was just as lost as I was.

"Madness or a ringing truth?!" Gabe raised his recovered gun.

"TRUTH!" all in company shouted. Gabriel fired hitting my dad in the ribs. He gasped and leaned heavily on Tair. He grimaced, his breath coming fast. He laid his head on Tair chest facing me, his eyes growing distant.

"Run my dearest.." he whispered softly. A faint smile played on his lips and then faded. Gabriel fired twice more on him and gave a sigh or relief.

"It's _done_. Finally the monsters are slain." He was talking more to himself than the company about him. His eyes were looking upon something far into the future in his mind as he turned back to face me. He ignored me has he spoke to his man.

"Report."

"The living quarters had many as you said. We had several loses there but nothing that can't be replaced easily."

"You've been taking inventory of to be sure you have them all?"

"Yes sir, all that we believe to be left is.." the lieutenant looked down at me.

I'd snapped out of my stupor a bit. My father's dying words had helped. Every inch of me tingled and ached. My heart raced though I had been on the floor the whole time. My gaze shifted from the lieutenant to Gabriel. New tears rolled down my face.. friend.. he _was_ a friend. What had happened?

"Oh.. yes. I shouldn't forget the most important." He turned to me and raised his gun.

"W-why." I met his eyes, I tried not to tremble.

"I already told you foolish child." He said coldly, angrily. He shot my right shoulder. I didn't remember screaming though I probably did. I rolled onto my side, the fiery pain flooding my system. I grunted suddenly the pain was gone; as quickly as it had come. I opened my eyes. I look up at Gabe. He was staring at me intently, probably expecting more of a show out of me.

"I-I.. won't.. be as easy! You stinking excuse for-" I didn't bother to finish, I was on my feel flying at him. I jabbed him hard in the face. I heard a satisfying crunch but rather than stop I jabbed with my right. His nose was next to break. By this time he'd finally caught up to what was going on. I must have moved fast.. I couldn't remember, but to have gotten two hits on him and hardly any reaction.. He flailed out and caught me in the stomach. I fell back and rolled away.

"Bitch! Look at what they've created! Super soldiers and this is only a child!"

"You brought this on yourself!" I snarled my voice unshaken, steady, and hard.

All his men turned and aimed their guns at me.

"You really think this is a fight you can win?" Gabe laughed. He spread his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Now I'm suddenly being swept up by some charitable compassion within me!" he paced back and fourth slowly before me. "I'll give you a chance to run. What say you to that?"

"First I say, 'Go to hell.' And second I say, 'Never mind, you're going there anyway!'" there were a few yards between us my roll had put a lot of distance between us that I hadn't intended. It wasn't far for 3 more bullets. Two of the shots hit me, one in the leg the other in my side, the third going high over my left shoulder. The world tilted. I envisioned myself falling like mom did, unceremoniously. It sure felt slow and graceful to me. Everything softened, and then darkened. I never even felt the floor.

------

I woke some time later. I ached. My body and heart as one, mourned. I was covered in blood long dried so I assumed that I had been out for several days. I looked around.

The hanger had been cluttered with work. Work that we had poured our lives into, our hearts. It was all gone. The only thing that cluttered the floor now was bodies. I lay back on the floor looking to the side to see my dad kneeling, bowed over, his face still resting on mom's chest as I'd last seen him. His eyes glazed, distant. Dead. I started crying. Crying, crying, and crying. It hurt but as much as my heart hurt. My wounds were gone; I didn't know how nor care. I crawled over to my fallen parents. I laid my father down properly and noticed he was wearing his dog tags. I took them and clung to them for I knew.. I couldn't stay here. Weeping so hard I could hardly see I made my way out of the hanger.

My mind was raving despite my sluggish, drunken steps. Gabriel…Gabriel.. how could he lie to us.. now could he shoot his best friend.. and then his wife and child! I was sure I had been left for dead. I had survived and god would I make it worth it. He wasn't human, he couldn't be and he'd do this to other people with no remorse. He had to be stopped and I made it my duty. I _would_ be the one to end him. Revenge.. was I still too young for the concept? No. I think not.

My birthday, it had passed. I stopped at an overturned table and noted the satellite clock. 4:43pm April 1st. So it was my birthday. Hardly any time had passed at all. April fools. God, did I feel like one. I was 12. Too young to feel revenge? _I think not_.


	2. Phase 2: Encounters

Wow… this is was worst chapter yet (editing wise lol)! IT MADE NO SENSE originally… also it put my character in an obsessive odd light which wasn't what I was going for when I was younger.. Guess I didn't know what I wanted back then . SO, absolutely everything has changed. Welcome to the NEW Phase 2.

Disclaimer: I own Leer. Nothing else.

**Phase 2: Encounters**

It was hot outside, not uncomfortably so but enough to make many search for a little relief the shade had to offer. Many had retired to afternoon lunch while Leer as usual stayed behind to work.

Leer was half hanging out of a giant turbine engine. A tray of wrenches and bolts sat ignored on a raised table. Leer swung her feet absently 2 feet from the ground completely oblivious to all around her. She was 'in the zone' as many of her co-workers called it when she seemed to enter her own little tech world in her head.

Leer grunted as she tightened the last bolt she had planned to replace. She looked up at the sky from her odd position and sighed. Wiping the sweat from her brow she dropped down to the ground. She grabbed a towel and began cleaning the grease from her hands. Once clean she grabbed her sack lunch and strolled over to the aboveground airplane hanger. Leaning against the wall she slid to the ground with another sigh.

She'd been working for the local Heliopolis Flight Academy for several years now. She hadn't gone to school herself, but had become an employee. She worked on fighter jets, bi-planes and a large variety of others. The Academy had had very few working planes seeing as it had been in decline for several years but now that war was brewing it was the biggest Academy in the area. Granted Heliopolis was a neutral colony that didn't mean a percentage of it's inhabitants weren't educated in the workings of combat. Not to mention, here Coordinators and Naturals co-existed here. It was a prefect place for raising good soldiers. Nice and quietly.

Leer munched on her modest lunch of dried fruit and pomegranate juice. Her job barely paid enough for her to keep the apartment she had a few block down from the complex so the variety of what foods she could eat were slim.

She sipped at her juice trying to make it last as long as possible. She mused over the days work. She had passed her quota for the day several hours ago. She was merely tinkering now. It brought her back, working kept her safe and sane.. and happy. As happy as she could be these days. She'd fall into old habits of her childhood while working and accidentally call people the names of her dead.. No, _murdered_ comrades and co-workers from way back when.

She blinked her eyes furiously. _Ugh, not today. I'm not thinking about that again today._ She scolded herself.

She stood and stretched. The day had flown by and she was wondering how she was going to fill the rest of it. She'd been doing searches on mobile suits for years and it had turned into a fruitless hobby of hers. She was 19 now and still.. nothing. Not a peep about the whereabouts of the stolen mobile suits.

"Miss Lahara!"

Leer turned her head her eyebrows raised curiously, a mildly confused expression.

"Oh ah, I'm sorry. Habit." the middle aged man replied embarrassed.

"We've been over this thousands of times," Leer scolded wit ha smile, "_never_ call me by my last name. I'm what 15, 20 years younger than you? Stop treating me like I'm some old lady!"

"S-sorry." Professor Mudori chuckled.

"Don't you have a casual cell in you?" Leer teased.

"Of course I-" he stopped himself, "Ah yes.. rhetorical."

Leer waved a dismissive hand, "So, what are you running about yelling my name to and fro for?"

"An exciting opportunity I have for you!"

"Yoda much?"

"These things you speak are true, yes." He pretended to bow over with an invisible cane in hand.

"Oh god.." Leer rolled her eyes, laughing.

-- -- -- --

"Kira!"

"Huh? What?!" Kira snapped out of his daydream. He flew forward in his chair almost unseating himself.

Kira sat in the lab that was becoming all too familiar to him. His professors had been pouring more and more work onto him each of them saying only he could do what they needed done. Kira didn't agree with that at all. He doubted he could do it better, maybe faster but not better than anyone else.

"Jesus man, stop daydreaming. Look at this insane load you have today." Sai said waving vaguely at the mass of disks and papers that Kira had been leaning on.

Kira sighed, "I know, I know. It's a lot though. I can't possibly do _everything_ all my teachers ask me to do. I want a life too!"

"Then stop being a mad genius!" Kuzzey shouted peering around the back of his chair.

Kira sighed again and rubbed his forehead. His first were great, but they just didn't understand. They didn't get the third of the work load he did and half of what he got was his teachers material on their own thesis' that they wanted him to review and edit.

"I didn't ask for any of this…" Kira whispered to himself.

"Huh?" Sai turned his attention from a chart he was looking over to Kira, "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing Sai, I'm just tired."

"I can imagine." He replied eyeing the mountain of work on the table. "Well, I'm gonna get back to work on the calibrations for the suit." he waved his clipboard of charts at the large space suit that was placed on a platform in the middle of the work area.

"'Kay, I wont be much longer here and then I'll help."

"Pff!" Kuzzey snorted walking over, "Kira, you have enough on your plate. Just work on the ridiculous amount of work you have in front of you rather than piling more on yourself!"

Kira smiled, "I'll think about it Kuzzey.. but I promised I'd help work on the project too."

"Hey guys!" Tolle burst through the door red in the face from running. He heaved and panted trying to catch his breath.

"Out with it Tolle!" Sai demanded, "Can't come bursting in here like that and keep whatever it is from us!"

"Not.. trying… to.." he huffed, "Can't.. breath!" Tolle allowed himself to fall to the floor landing on his butt. He sat there for a moment until he could speak.

"The Professor is bringing in someone new!"

"Tolle.. you're going to have to be a little more specific than that. We have a lot of teachers this semester.." Kira said with a bemused expression.

"Yeah, yeah! Well, I saw this chick with blond hair in the hall! It looks promising!"

"'_Chick'_?" Sai asked disgusted. "Tolle, have some decency. You don't call girls 'chicks'."

Kira had gotten up to peer out the lab door into the lobby as Sai and Tolle argued. There _was_ a blond person there. He/She currently was observing a bulletin board facing away from him. He'd never seen someone like this before though and he remembered all the faces in school. The person turned to look at the main desk. Their expression was one of annoyance. Impatient.

"It looks like a boy to me.. and I've never seen his face before…" Kira said loud enough for all in the lab to hear. Tolle and Sai stopped arguing. Sai walked over to take a look too.

"Oh Kira, don't be dense. If there's one thing you _don't_ know about its girls! You can't even tell them apart from the guys! You spend too much of your life on school and not on life!" Sai scolded.

"What… but he's totally a-" Kira was about to reply when Tolle caught their attention with a cough. His expression was one of extreme embarrassment, his ears turning red, his cheeks flushing as if he had been running again.

"What's wrong with you?" Sai asked.

Tolle pointed out the door into the lobby. Kira and Sai turned to the lobby to see the girl/guy staring at them looking more displeased than before. Both boys yelped and jumped back for the door, Sai slamming it shut.

"Did she hear us?!" he demanded grabbing Tolle's shirt and shaking him a bit.

"Well, why else would she be staring at you like that?" Tolle managed to choke out struggling feebly in his grasp.

Kira sifted awkwardly where he stood. Some of what Sai had said still burned. He'd been living so little of a social life that the only time he actually saw his friends was when they were working together on projects. He'd never dated, never gone to a party, and rarely went on any outings with anyone in general. Kira stared at the floor. Was the way he lived pathetic? He didn't feel like he was being forced to do all this work. His professors had always given him the option of not doing it, but Kira's sense of obligation usually took over and he always accepted more work that came his way. Was that weak?

"Kira!"

"Huh?" he looked up at Kuzzey who had called him.

"Are.. you ok?"

"Um, yeah of course. Why?"

"You're acting funny. Tolle and Sai said your name a few times before I yelled it.. is all."

Kira didn't respond right away. More concern appeared on his friends faces. "You know what?" he asked them.

"What?" Tolle asked tilting his head to the side.

"Let's go do something. I'm tired of being here. I've done a lot today. We _all_ have." He smiled, nodding to keep reassuring himself that this was what he needed.

"Really!" Tolle shouted excited, "AWESOME! What do you wanna do?!"

"Anything but be here." Kira said with a firm nod and smile.

"Works for me! Last person packed drives!" he ran over to his things and started cramming them into his bag.

Kira, taking a minute to react, quickly walked over to his things but put them a way neatly and thus was the last person packed.

"Ok, here, let me edit the terms. Last person BUT Kira drives!" he chuckled putting his arm around Kira's shoulder. "This is _so_ cool! We're all actually gonna hang out like old times!" Sai and Kuzzey quickly followed the two out the lab door. They all eyed the lobby for the girl but she was gone. They quickly shrugged it off and began planning the evenings events.

"I say we go bowling and then dinner. You know, at that awesome diner we use to go to all the time! Man, I miss their onion rings!" Tolle reminisced.

"Without me?!" exclaimed a playfully angry voice.

Sai's eyes lit up and he turned to Miriellia who had popped up behind them, "Of course! I didn't want to call your phone.. I thought you were still in class.."

"Teacher said it was too nice out to spoil a good evening like this.. and I kinda played sick a little. I had a feeling you guys would be going out."

"Mir!" Sai said reproachfully.

"Oh Sai, don't start! Who are we to questing her womanly intuitions!?" Tolle joked.

Sai glared at Tolle but the mood quickly changed to one of lively conversation with Miriellia. They had gotten to the parking lot by now and were heading to Sai's car when Kira twitched his head to the side at a familiar voice in the distance.

"Oh no! Hurry, get in the car!" Kuzzey shouted and hopped into the back seat of the convertible.

"Kuzzey.. it's disrespectful to "run" from a professor or any elder for that matter."

By now Professor Mudori had caught up to them, not as winded as Tolle had come to them earlier but close, and when the Professor was excited about something nothing in the world could stop him from spitting it out, not even lack of air.

"I ..have someone.. you _have_ to meet! Prodigy.. like yourself!" he panted.

At a much more relaxed pace behind him came another person. He was silhouetted for a moment by the setting sun but came into focus as he neared. He proved to be a she, except unlike before it was now much more obvious of the gender. She stopped beside the Professor and eyed the group of kids. Kira made a quick assessment of her. Her hair was relatively long, in a high pony tail with a few locks of somewhat straight hair on each side of her face. Her hair color was.. violet marking her as either someone who enjoyed dying their hair odd colors or as a Coordinator. Kira betted on the latter. Her body was, even he couldn't deny it, shapely. She was obviously older and more developed than them. Her eyes were a force to be reckoned, they were analyzing and calculating all of their features like Kira was to her but it was different. Kira's evaluation was more of a friendly manner while her eyes were piercing, logging away a list of statistics rather than identities. Her eyes were the definite giveaway of her being a Coordinator; there weren't contacts the color of her eyes. Her right eye was greener but near the pupil was a striking magenta and her left eye was similar but obviously was more magenta than green. Her facial features were clean, feminine but strong. Her arms and legs were well toned. Kira suddenly felt self-conscious; he felt like a twig in front of her. She certainly wasn't buff but she looked moderately athletic.

The Professor had caught his breath during the two parties examination of the other and thus leaped into is tirade of nonsense, "She's amazing, like yourself of course. Just, if something's broke she can fix it like brand spankin' new! She has next to no schooling but can figure the most complex things out, no offence Leerah but it's simply amazing! It took me _eons_ to learn what comes second nature to you! You know, I've been meaning to have you two meet a while ago. Kira just got involved with the space program and he's taken off like a real rocket, he has! So much talent, I can't wait to see what you two do together!"

Leer looked flustered while Kira had turned a shade red.

"Professor," Leer cut in, "I said I'd meet him. I never said I'd actually have time to work with anyone. I do have a job that involves my full attention you know."

The Professors sails didn't lose an ounce of wind, "Oh, easily fixed! The work Kira is doing is directly related to the work you do in the hangers. The company has been planning on paying them for some time. If we add you to the team they _can't_ say no!" The Professor was simply gushing with enthusiasm.

"I.. but.." Leer hated working with other people. It gave her more space for error to excuse someone else with someone that had faced a terrible, violent end years ago.

"Kira what do ya say!?" the Professor asked empathically, "You've been wanting more help for ages and I guarantee you she's good help!"

"I don't doubt that Professor but-"

"Then it's settled! Leerah will be joining the team. It'll take some time to run the paperwork and get everything settled but you'll be flying through this project in no time! We'll have fun kids! Gosh, you're all just kids and already such a big break! Have a nice evening!" he called over his shoulder and was gone.

Leer stood staring after him, half pointing in the direction the Professor had left in.

"Did he just.."

"Yeah." Kira chuckled half heartedly.

Leer rubbed her head, "Sorry about this. Not here to steal any kind of thunder that there is for the taking. Got a hell of a lot on my plate as is-"

"No, no, no I totally understand. The Professor tends to get.. carried away when he sees something good that he can set up."

Leer rubbed the back of her neck. Kira and his crew were nice and clean obviously read to go out or just had what she termed "fat ass office jobs" that didn't require getting dirty. It was her turn to be a bit embarrassed. She was still in the clothes she'd worked in. Greasy, smudged white tank top (it had been the only shirt she had had that was clean), thick brown overalls with the straps off her shoulders and steel toe work boots. She even had the wrench she had been using sticking out of her back pocket with a few stray wires hanging out.

Kira decided to fill the growing silence, "What's the job you have now?"

"Oh, I work at the flight Academy a few blocks down from here. I fix fighter jets."

"Whoa, that's neat!" Tolle cut in, "Wish we did that! That's be the dream job right there!"

"For _you_ Tolle, I personally like where and what we're working on." Sai interjected indignantly.

"And what is all this that I got dragged into?" Leer asked curiously.

"Well it certainly isn't working on fighter jets!" Tolle said still looking a bit dreamy at the idea of being a fighter jet mechanic, "But it's kinda close I guess, we're working on-" Kuzzey who had gotten out of the car during the exchange elbowed Tolle hard in the ribs.

"Don't sya anything remember."

"But she's part of the team!" Tolle protested.

"Kuzzey's right Tolle.. none of the paper works been done yet. We can't disclose any information at this time." He said turning to Leer for the last part.

"Ah, I know how that goes." Leer nodded in agreement.

"What's you name?" Miriellia asked curiously.

"Heh, just like the Prof. to forget introductions. My name's Leerah Lahara.. but _please_ just call me Leer."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Miriallia Haw. This is Sai Argyle, that's Kuzzey Buskirk, the loud one's Tolle Koenig and-"

"I'm Kira, Kira Yamato." he held his hand out.

Leer looked at it for a moment and wiped her right hand on her overalls and shook it. "Well.. looks like we're a team… I guess.." she commented awkwardly. "Sorry if I'm holding you guys up at all.." she said offhandedly.

"Oh! Guys, the restaurants gonna close soon!" Kuzzey quickly began directing them to the car.

"Sorry we're leaving you like this.. would you like a ride back to he Academy?" Kira asked, embarrassed everything was ending oddly.

"Nah, it's nice out and your cars full. I'm good, thanks though." She turned and abruptly walked off.

Kira scratched his head and was brought back to reality by the shouts of his friends from the car. Tossing his bag in the trunk he got in the passenger side and they headed to dinner.

- - - - -

Leer lay in her bed later that night wondering how the hell she had gotten herself dragged in the Professors mad scheming. Here she was doing very _illegal_ research under everyone's nose along with a full time job that dealt with the military and now she had to do it under the noses of a bunch of kids 2-3 years younger than her too. She grumbled and grumbled unable to fall asleep. It'd been so long since she'd started her search and had turned up nothing. Now she had twice as much to deal with.

'_What a damn mess.'_ She thought in frustration at herself. She recalled what the Professor had said about her.

'_If I'm so damn smart how the hell do I get dragged into garbage like this?'_

With a bitter snort she rolled over and finally fell asleep dreaming of giant mobile suits crushing innocent civilians while Kira and his group conducted irrelevant, wacky experiments in a chem. Lab. She woke up with a bitter taste in her mouth, a head ache, and a numb, still sleeping leg.

"Oh yeah, today is going to be a _great_." She growled her voice dripping with sarcasm.


	3. Phase 3: Guilt Trip

A/N: My shortest chap yet!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Guilt Trip

"Damn! I'm gonna have to report this...!" Kira cursed after he had lost Athrun. Kira had shot and heavily damaged one of Aegis's thrusters. Kira had only seen Aegis go into a nosedive but had then lost track of him.

"How could he vanish?!" Kira yelled smashing his fist into the control panel of the Strike.

Kira searched for as long as he possibly could but was forced to give up. He had been out so long that the Strike was only running on its APU (Auxiliary Power Unit).

Upon reaching the Archangel (an Earth Alliance battle air craft) and exiting the Strike, Kira hurled his helmet across the landing deck. Kira's close friend, Kazui Bushirk, saw his friends anger, "What happened?" he asked picking up the helmet and led the way to a door that hissed opened and closed behind them.

"I failed to protect the capitol.." he clenched his fist.

"But you took them all down! I saw the news. They said the battle was won, all thanks to you!"

"No..I missed one. He crash landed somewhere..I never found him.."

"One Coordinator won't survive in Saylin long." Kazui said confidently.

"But imagine all the trouble he _could_ cause!" Kira fumed.

"Are you gonna tell Captain Murrue Ramius?" Kazui asked softly.

"I have to." Kira growled.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then.." he muttered, put out by his friends anger.

"Yeah, yeah.." Kira sighed.

Hours after having met with Captain Ramius, Kira sat depressed and tired in the small dinning hall of the Archangel. He was also thinking about what had happened to him in the battlefield. What had happened to him? He had turned into a practical killing machine, so much so that he would even go for his friend who had been trying to retreat. He rubbed his head and sighed. He would never want to kill his friend even though they were on different sides.

There was a hissing of the door to the dinning hall opening.

Fllay burst into the room, "I can't believe you!"

Kira flinched spilling his already cold coffee on the table, "Wha..what?" he asked coming out of his trance.

"_You_...you let him _live_!" she raged.

"I..what! Who told you that!" Kira half stood confused.

"You don't need to know my business! The fact is that you**_ failed _**to protect the city!" she paused and thought for a moment, "What if that had been the _Archangel_!?" she shrieked dramatically.

"But it.." he began.

"_But it wasn't?!" _she mocked in a baby voice, "Oh wonderful excuse, the story of my life!" she turned from him, disgusted. She suddenly turned back to him, her expression soft and teary eyed, "Oh Kira! I'm..I'm just _sooo_ scared..afraid of what could happen!" she sobbed, "I'm so afraid that..that this war will drag on and on_ forever_! I just don't want to get hurt!" She threw herself into his arms sobbing.

"I..it's ok..." Kira said a bit taken aback.

She looked up into his face, "Your our only hope Kira. Only you can protect us! I only feel safe with you near..or when your out there fighting people who wish to do harm to me! Yo..you _will_ protect me..won't you Kira?" she whispered to him leaning on him more.

"I..uh...yeah..of course." he stammered.

Fllay slowly smiled at him, "Thank you Kira.." she whispered even more softly.

"_Kira Yamoto, report to the bridge immediately."_ a voice said over the intercom.

"Oh," Kira said snapping out of his trance, "I have to go.."

"Of course Kira..you go.." she cooed timidly.

"I'll see you later." he waved to her and left the room.

Fllay leaned against the wall and watched the door hiss close. She wiped the fake tears from her eyes.

"You _will_ fight Kira. You will _fight_ and _fight_ until you can't fight anymore and you will serve your purpose to me in the end. You will do this because like all men..you _'love'_ me." she smiled slyly. She poured herself a cup of warm coffee and sat in Kira's seat, congratulating herself on a job well done.


	4. Phase 4: Meeting with Destiny

A/N: Here's another chap. Hope you like it. I tired to make this chap short but failed..as usual. I also apologize for how long it took me to put this up... Hope you like it!!!!!!!!! **_Please, please, please R & R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_**

Disclaimer: refer to earlier chaps.

**Meeting with Destiny**

"I never thought the Aegis was so cramped!"Leer growled trying to move into a more comfortable position, and in the process accidentally hitting the controls.

"Stop moving so much!" Athrun muttered in mild annoyance.

Leer was seated on Athrun's lap inside the GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam. They had left Earth Alliance territory and had entered ZAFT's.

"And this Gundam wasn't made to carry two people." Athrun added as he readjusted his hold on the controls.

"I know, but I can't believe we never thought of making the interior bigger!" she sighed.

Athrun smiled understanding her discomfort, "We're almost there."

Athrun sighed inwardly. He had little idea of what he was going to tell the others. He couldn't just walk up to Creuset and say, 'Well I brought this stranger here because I believed what she said..and I had this feeling.. yeah..'. That would be asking for a decommission. He would have to make up something that made sense. He began to wonder_ why _hehad done this? Why had he offered to help her? Was it because she beat him? Or did he pity her? No, he didn't pity her. If she could take him down then everything else would be a breeze for her. It was defiantly not pity.

"There it is. Caress our closest stronghold." Athrun pointed to the screen.

She stared at the screen pretending not to hear him. She had one immediate goal now. To meet Athrun's superior.

(**_Time lapse_**)

After landing Leer exited the Gundam first, leaping the two-foot gap between the gundam and the platform. She waited tapping her foot impatiently. Sighing, she began to walk along the platform, looking around.

"Hey! Athrun, where is everyone else..." a boy yelled running around a corner. He froze when he saw her.

Leer raised an eyebrow. The boy was a little shorter than her and had slate grey greenish hair. Like most coordinators his hair color had been altered by genetics. He was in his ZAFT uniform. She studied him looking at him from his shoes up to his amber brown eyes. She smiled.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, still alarmed.

"It's alright Nicol." Athrun said emerging from the Aegis.

"You worried me there for a second Athrun." the boy, apparently named Nicol, immediately calmed, "So, where is everyone. The scanners only showed you coming back.."

"I am..the only one." Athrun whispered bowing his head.

"The only one to..." Nicol was horrified.

".. make it back." Leer finished bluntly.

Nicol glared at her and was about to replied angrily, "No Nicol..she right. None of them survived. It was my fault.." Athrun looked up obviously hurting on the inside.

"It's...it's ok..at least _someone_ made it back.." Nicol muttered quietly.

Leer sighed impatiently. "Oh...I'm sorry." Athrun jarred himself from his sadness, "This is Nicol Amalfi. Nicol this is Leer Lahara."

Nicol nodded his greeting, "So why did you bring a Natural here?"

Leer snorted, "Ha! Natural!" she brushed past Nicol walking towards the door he had come through.

"Well? Why?" Nicol whispered to Athrun.

"I...I promised to help her. And..she's not a Natural." Athrun muttered back.

"She's not?"

"Nicol, open your eyes!" Athrun shot quietly, "Does she look like a Natural to you?"

Nicol looked at Leer who was walking ahead of them. Athrun was right, she looked nothing like a Natural. Her body was well formed and obviously more powerful than any Natural's. Another giveaway was her hair, which was a violet-indigo color.

Nicol blushed as she glanced back catching him looking at her. Leer laughed, "Yes, I'm a Coordinator." she confirmed.

"Sorry..I didn't think you were. I mean you came from a Natural capitol." Nicol said still red.

She slowed until they were all walking side by side. "Yeah, I had to lie a lot to keep from getting caught. They were really suspicious of me when I first came. They even spied on me a few times, but I out smarted them every time. They eventually gave up assuming I wasn't there to hurt anyone."

"Were you?" Nicol asked curiously.

"No," she said tightly, "No.._he_...I mean the person I was looking for...wasn't there." she stared ahead trying to swallow her rage. Sighing she changed the subject, "Where is this leader of yours?"

"He should be in the mess hall. If not he's on the Bridge giving orders or making plans..as always." Athrun explained.

"Well, let's get this over with." she walked ahead of them again looking around curiously.

"Have a change of heart?" Athrun asked Nicol.

"Well, if she's as good as you say she is..and lets just say ZAFT needs all the help it can get." Nicol said sadly.

(**_Time lapse_**)

"So who do you report to?" Leer asked in extreme annoyance. She was really getting sick of these introductions.

The captain had been unable to see her right away so Athrun had suggested that she meet everyone. She had meet the other Gundam piolets Dearka and Yzak. She had then been carted off to look at the ship. Only after 4 hours after her arrival was she where she wanted to be. No more detours.

"That is none of your business." Rau Le Creuset said smoothly.

"I've made it my business." she countered just as calmly, though inside she was a raging storm.

Creuset smiled, he was already starting to like this kid. "Well, I report to Chairman Zala. Why do you ask?"

Leer seemed put out, "I am searching for someone.."

"And I did not give you the name you seek.." Creuset finished.

She glared at him frustrated, "You've wasted my time!" she finally snapped at him pointing an accusing finger.

Creuset smiled again, "Who is it that you seek?" he stuck firm to the subject.

Leer dropped her arm and studied him for a second. She began to wonder if she was offering what she thought he was offering. "I..."she began taking a breath, "I am searching for a murderer..a thief..a traitor.." she clenched her fists as she shook violently.

Creuset looked thoughtful. He stood from his chair and walked over to a holographic chart that he had been studying earlier. "Athrun has told me that you can fight, and that you also seem to know quit a bit about the mobile suits too."

She looked at him suspiciously, "What does that have to do with what _I _want?"

"I have an offer." he said turning to her.

Leer paused and walked over to the hologram chart, "And?" she asked interested.

"That you fight for ZAFT, specifically join my group.."

"Now why would I do that?" she laughed playing along with him.

"Not only will it give you a purpose and something to do, but I will help you find who you are looking for..."

"Really?" she asked thoughtfully folding her arms.

"Yes, I swear." Creuset said honestly.

"Does ZAFT need help this badly?" she laughed mockingly.

"As you know Naturals vastly outnumber us, we need all the help we can get, and considering that you know so much about the mobile suits..." he paused doubtfully but went on, "and you seem ready for insanity about this man."

"Murderer." she corrected fiercely.

"Yes, I will need more information on him."

Leer sighed, she had to keep in mind that this was someone who was trying to help her. But it didn't change the fact that this was still difficult to talk about. "His...his name is Farin Drez.." she swallowed hard, "He's a Natural..about 50 years old by now.." Creuset walked over to his desk and wrote this down.

"Anything else?" he asked gazing at her through his mask.

"He'd be a leader against Coordinators..he did this murder with a bunch of people..some from Orb others from Desert Dawn and some from Earth Alliance."

"Like a terrorist group?"

"Yeah.. maybe.."

"I'll check some people in the Blue Cosmos..a terrorist group that has targeted Coordinators and see what I can find. I'll also request that headquarters look some things up as well. They may have better luck than I do."

"Than..thanks.." she stammered, surprised that he actually meant it.

Creuset heard the doubt in her voice and surprise, "I _will_ do all I can, but for the meantime you'll work for me."

"I know." she thought for a second, "What do you want me to do? Fight?"

"I have quit a bit of faith in Athrun's assessment on you but.. not that much. I'd like to test you a little before sending you out to battle and there's a problem of supplying a mobile suit for you.."

"No need. I have my own." she said smoothly.

It was Creusets turn to be surprised, "Really? Where?"

"3.4 miles outside Saylin."

"Why so exact?" Creuset asked in friendly suspicion.

She smiled, "I can "call" my Gundam to me as long as it's within that distance."

"Call?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I installed the ability to "call" it, I speak into my watch and it activates where ever it is and it follows a signal that the watch emits." she frowned, "It's one of the many 'just in case' abilities that it has..."

"In case you encounter this man?"

"Yes...so I can beat him down and clean myself of this business of revenge."

"You seem confident that you'll win when the two of you meet."

"It will be me or him, Rau." her expression became dark, "But I've already sworn it's gonna be him...or both of us..."

**(_Time lapse_**)

"What? Why me!!" Nicol cried.

"Because, I said so." Rau said as-a-matter-of factly.

Nicol sighed, "It's always me.. why is it always me!" he moaned.

"You just need to take her to the outskirts of Saylin and then, assuming she's telling the truth, she will have her own mobile suit."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"

"And now you know why I agreed to this. The danger. So much to lose yet so much to gain." Rau said with a mild smile.


	5. Phase 5: Convert

A/N: I give my deepest apologies for not updating in so long. I had little idea on where to go after chapter 6..so I just stopped typing until I came up with something. I'm not sure if I have anything yet..but I'll do what I can for now. I made it long so..be happy and R & R!

_**Convert**_

"Where did you say it was exactly?" Nicol asked stiffly as he readjusted the coordinates.

Leer smiled at him sympathetically, "Relax, It's right over there." She pointed out a small hanger on the battle screen. It was ten minutes to six and the dim light of morning was coloring the sky in light shades of lighter blues and pale yellow.

Leer had managed to squeeze behind the seat on the Blitz Gundam. She tried to shift but got a painful poke of a protruding metal slab in her back. She grumbled, glad that they were almost here. Nicol examined the battle screen, searching for any threats. Feeling that they were safe he removed the Mirage Colloid. Nicol gave a deep sigh of relief as he landed the Blitz outside the hanger.

Leer sighed as well. Nicol made some readjustments to the calibrations in the Blitz's weapon system before opening the hatch and letting Leer out.

"Don't be long... I don't like it here." Nicol said looking around nervously.

"Stop worrying." Leer snapped irritably as she took hold of the thick cord that would lower her to the ground. "I doubt Lucus is even here."

"Who's Lucus?" Nicol asked suspiciously. He shifted from one leg to the other as she hung onto the line.

"Don't worry about it." she waved at him and descended to the ground. She gracefully jumped off before the line even touched the ground. She quickly jogged to the huge hanger doors which were slightly ajar. She glanced back at Nicol who was crouched at the edge of the hatch door. He waved her to hurry. She gave him a casual, careless wave back and entered the hanger.

She squinted in the darkness. She waited a moment till her eyes adjusted until she moved further into the hanger.

"Lucus!" she called. Her voice echoed eerily off the huge metallic walls. She waited, and then continued walking. Her guess was that Lucus was out drinking again, she didn't need him anyway, she knew exactly where her mobile suit was. She walked as fast as she could without running towards the far end of the hanger.

Leer jumped as she heard a loud clank, the sound of an empty metal can hitting the floor and slowly rolling. She looked to the middle of the hanger and saw Lucus reclined and asleep in his chair at a cluttered desk. She approached the desk running her fingers along the edge as she neared his chair. She looked at Lucus for another minute. He looked even more disheveled then usual. Her eyes then drifted to the empty beer can on the floor that had fallen from his limp hand.

She sighed, "Damn drunkard." she spat out loud. Lucus promptly woke and reached for the holster on his waist.

In one fluid motion Leer kicked the chair out from under the half drunk man. He hit the ground with a solid thud. His gun flew out of his hands and clattered to the floor a short distance away. Disoriented he attempted to sit up.

Leer approached him and stepped on his chest, "Never, ever, draw a weapon on me again." she stared him down.

"Lee?" Lucus asked, his words slightly slurred.

She raised an eyebrow and gave him her crooked smile.

"Oy, Lee...gave me quit a scare..thought I was dyin'.." she removed her foot and watched him stand. She watched him stumble and lean on his desk until his vision stopped spinning.

"I've come to collect what's mine. I'll pay you for keeping it this long.. and sorry about not replying to your last call about that. I'll pay you extra if I have to." she dug into her pocket and pulled out a check.

"Uh...yeah..Lee..that's what I was callin' about. I don't got it no more." Lucus said rubbing the back of his neck, he shifted nervously.

She laughed, "What are you talking about? I left it here. In your care. Where else could it be?" she looked around the hanger.

"Not here." he mumbled.

In an instant Leer went from casual-kind, to ravenous and deadly, "What the hell do you mean _'not here'_!" she grabbed him roughly by the collar and lifted him off the floor. The muscles in her arms shook a bit as she lifted him higher. "What happened to it?" she raged.

"Someone came...was interested in storing something here..he saw it..he payed my money to keep it hidden..then he came back and picked it up..." Lucus chocked from her death grip.

"LIAR!" she snarled. She threw him to the floor, "How could you let something like that happen! It wasn't yours to give away!" she drew a pistol from her back pocket and pointed it at him.

He lay there on his elbows, "You didn't exactly tell me the truth either. You said that thing was a prototype...unfinished or something like that, that someone hired you and you were getting payed well for it. But that guy said no one had hired you to build it..and that it was dangerous ..unregistered in the government files. That I'd get in trouble if I was caught with it." his drunkenness faded

'_He's been leading me on!'_ Leer thought horrified.

"Traitor!" she hissed, "You betrayed me! Not only that but your lying to me..I can see it in your eyes!"_ 'Why do I trust anyone these days.. ever since that happened..I never trusted anyone. Why did I start now? I only get hurt when I trust others.' _ She thought sadly, angry at her error.

Lucus gave her a dirty smile, "Yeah, I'm lying. He said that wouldn't wash with you said you were too damn smart for that. Want the truth?" he asked the grin still on his face.

"I'll kill you either way." she said tightly.

He shrugged and stood, all drunken steps gone, slurred speech normal again. "_He_ came here. He knew you were here. He's been_ watching_ you.." he seethed pleasurably.

Leer's eyes widened with horror, "Drez." she whispered. Spinning on her heel she ran to the end of the hanger. Now that she knew who her opponent was, she knew how he thought..she knew where her mobile suit was. Who would think of looking in the hanger after being told that their sworn enemy had been here and had seen it? Exactly what she was doing now.

She ran down the steps that led to the lower levels of the hanger. She swung herself over the railing and fell a good 15 feet before hitting the ground. She landed on her feet unharmed, left with only a gentle tingling sensation in her calves and thighs. She broke into a sprint across the huge room. She heard Lucus' foot falls on the metal landings that she had just jumped off.

"I was hoping you'd never come back so I wouldn't have to kill you myself." He yelled, his voice echoing painfully.

Leer winced from the noise as he opened fire with the pistol that she recklessly left behind. She leaped high into the air, much higher then any Natural could, and did a one hundred and eighty degree turn in midair. As she descended back towards the cement floor she shot, just once and landed on her feet, skidding a few feet before stopping in a crouched position.

She looked up, panting a little. Lucus stood there unmoving, "Damn you..." he whispered. He dropped to his knees as blood flaked his lips. He pitched forward and made a loud clanging sound as hit the landing. He didn't move after that.

Leer stood and jammed her pistol into her back pocket, "Your better off that way." she muttered to herself. Turning back to the direction she had been heading in she jogged to a darkened corner. Sure enough she found what she was looking for.

The Elemental stood tall and proud, its green, white and blue metal paneling shining. She smiled. Just as she had left it.. only not in the place that she had left it in. The Elemental was obviously small..for a mobile suit. It stood shorter then the Blitz and was a different shape. The Elemental was more smooth, less rigid compared to other mobile suits, it appeared to be more aerodynamic.

Admiring her masterpiece for a moment longer she walked up to the foot, which was still huge in comparison to her. Summoning up her strength she leaped up and landed on its foot, with another grunt of effort she launched herself onto an area of the knee that jutted out. She then jumped again but caught the edge with her hand and pulled herself up.

Upon reaching the cockpit she looked down at her watch and pressed the little greed button on it. With a hissing sound the hatch opened. She beamed and jumped onto the platform that folded out from the cockpit, careful not to fall..because it was a pretty long way down.

She dropped into the seat and pulled the keyboard towards her. "Hey baby, wake up. It's time to get movin'." she said as she typed in codes to start the elaborate system. The screen lowered from above her and pulled up warnings and other code protected files. She muttered to herself as her fingers flew over the keys. Finally she heard the system booting up. She leaned back staring at the screen that current was flashing "please wait...".

After another moment or so the system was ready. Closing the cockpit, she snuggled into the seat and clipped the harness together. Taking the controls she pushed the throttle up giving the mobile suit some power. The suit jolted into action.

"Easy. A little rusty are we?" I had been a long time since the Elemental had even moved. She was a little surprised that the battery was as full as it was.

The Elemental made it over to the lift and Leer pressed the controls, instructing the suit to press the large "lift" button. With quit a bit of noise the lift shuddered and carried it's load to the surface. Leer typed furiously to get the battle screen up and running. Unfortunately, a lot of the other smaller systems like weapons and minor mobility had gone off line because of the lack of continuous use. She had most of them back up and running or reformatting themselves by the time she reached the top.

Leer cocked her head to the side, was that a missel she was hearing? She quickly moved the Elemental forward and out of the hanger.

Nicol wasn't where she had left him...

"Dammit.." she cursed softly. She quickly searched for the communications file and brought it up. It was still reformatting to the signals that ZAFT used. Her eyes turned to the battle screen, scanning the area manually for the Blitz.

She easily spotted tanks.. heading straight for her and the hanger. _'Lucus must have called his buddies before coming after me.' _Leer thought in annoyance. With the Elemental in this condition.. she wouldn't stand a chance against a well organized group, no matter how good her skills where.

Leer jumped as she heard some garbled speech cracking over her communications link.

"Le..r i.. that.. yo..?"

It was Nicol trying to reach her through the unmodified com link. The N-Jammers, a ZAFT creation, was scrambling her old transmitions. She growled loudly to herself. She didn't bother trying to talk back to Nicol. He'd only get confused. She'd just wait until the file was done.

Until then they would have to physically communicate with the mobile suits. The Elemental raised a hand and gestured for the Blitz to follow. The Elemental rose into the sky with low powered jets (battery wasn't strong enough for anything of higher power) and began heading back the way they had come. Nicol took off behind her, understanding.

The tanks below didn't hesitate, they opened fire, hoping to get at least one of them before they got out of range.

The Blitz was hit hard on it's right leg and the left hip was grazed. He turned, while still flying back the way they had come and returned fire.

Leer looked further ahead towards the city of Saylin.. which they had to pass again. She spotted several more tanks and trucks with anti-aircraft cannons. Leer cursed and smashed her fist into the arm of her metal seat.

A soft beep from the battle screen brought something to her attention. The com link was up and running again. She quickly opened it and linked to Nicol.

"Amalfi, we have a problem."

"That's an understatement." he paused as he took out two tanks, "How did I know this was gonna happen!" he moaned.

"Life isn't life without risks." Leer snapped.

"Great, your starting to sound like Creuset. You two will certainly get along well." Nicol mumbled coldly.

"I guess I really am one of you ZAFT people now.." Leer mused thoughtfully.

Leer looked to her screen as more finished files popped up and more systems were running. Now she had a chance against their foe. She took a firmer grip on the controls and quickly came up with an offence strategy.

She easily dodged their slow and ill placed shots, "Bah, is that really all you got!" she taunted. She went to the weapons files and selected one of her favorites.

On the outside, a hatch on the mobile suits right and left forearms arms opened and a small cannon lifted out of each. They were high energy cannons, built with both accuracy and power. She opened fire and took out several of the opposing tanks in a few blows.

"We can't win!" Nicol cried over the com link.

"We got this! There's only..." she began confidently as ten Sky Graspers whizzed by, appearing out of no where. "Oh..." she muttered in mild surprise, "Damn.."

"There too many. Run for it!" Nicol ordered, sounding panicked.

"I concur." Leer agreed, making the Elemental wheel out of some anti-aircraft fire.

Nicol and Leer quickly abandoned the fight and headed back towards the base, avoiding enemy fire as they went.

"Where do ya think your goin'!" an enemy Sky Grasper piolet yelled as he dove at them from above. He fired his four machine guns and both medium cannons at Nicol, unable to fire at them both at the same time. Nicol couldn't avoid it all and one of the medium cannons took off the Blitz's right arm and destroyed the 50mm high-energy beam rifle with it.

"AH!" Nicol cried as the Blitz shook violently.

"Nicol!" Leer yelled, watching as the Blitz fell from the sky at an alarming rate. She quickly followed, she had to at least slow his decent or he could get really hurt..may be even.. She banished the thought and plummeted after him. "Nicol," she called again, "Pull up!"

"I...I can't.."Nicol grunted desperately, "My energy is in the red zone..I've been out too long!" His jets failed completely and his Phase Shift Armor faded back to it's dull grey, he began to free fall.

Leer didn't say anything as she went into a nose dive after him. As she dove, she activated another weapon. On the outside the Elemental's shoulders pushed out and up dropping long coils of metal into its hands. Catching the handles of these metal whips the Elemental lashed out with its right whip. It wrapped firmly around the Blitz's leg and the other wrapped around an arm.

"I won't let you die!" she growled, desperately working the controls.

Leer quickly pulled out of the dive and put her jets to max. power to slow them down. Unfortunately, throughout this whole process both of them were vulnerable and received a lot of damage.

Five Sky Graspers swooped by firing their medium cannons. Leer gauged that Nicol would easily survive the fall from their current altitude so she jerked him upwards and the whips released him. Nicol yelped at the sudden jerk and yelled some pretty interesting things at her. She smiled and began defending herself. The other five Sky Graspers turned towards her.

"Great. Ten on one, I love those odds." she mused sarcastically. Without warning, they all opened fire, sending a hail of gunfire at her. Leer performed the needed maneuvers to avoid them. She somehow came out untouched but Leer had a feeling her luck was going to change, quickly. The ground forced had regrouped and where firing.

"Gah!" she cursed as she missed a missile, she fired again but her weapon didn't respond. She looked at her energy levels. She didn't have enough to use energy-based weapons anymore, and would soon loose flight as well. Another group of missiles headed for her. Warning beeps told her that it was too late to avoid them.

'_This is it.'_ Leer thought darkly, _'and what a pathetic way to go.' _she added dryly to her thoughts.

A green blast streaked down in front of her, destroying the missiles. Shocked, Leer looked up. It was the Aegis.


	6. Phase 6: Uneasy Spirit

A/N: Here we go! Yay! I think I'm out of the ditch with the whole 'no ideas' thing...I hope.. I think.. Well onward! **_PLEASE R & R :_**)

**Uneasy Spirit**

Nicole cursed as the counsel in front of him shot off sparks. He had lost visual as the remainder of the Blitz's power drained away. "Damn it!" He had left an inexperienced piolet to fight on her own. He should have known how to handle the situation! He _was_ the experienced one after all. "I'll never forgive myself if she.." Nicol felt tears well in his eyes. The thought that it would be _his_ fault if she died, ate away at him from the inside out.

High above the crippled Blitz the fighting had come to a momentary stop. The shocking arrival of the Aegis had confused and scared the Earth Alliance forces and surprised Leer.

Leer looked down at the battle screen which was showing a notice that the Aegis was trying to contact her. She quickly opened the comm. link and visual files.

"Athrun!" she sighed thankfully. She only had 20 minutes of flying power now. She would be little match for the Sky Grasper assault if grounded.

"Are you alright? Where's Nicol?" he asked quickly. He was obviously more concerned about Nicol then her.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "_I'm_ fine. But your little buddy isn't so great. He's on the ground somewhere. He's alive though..." she informed Athrun vaguely.

Athrun looked as if he wanted to ask more but stopped to avoid enemy fire. The E.A. forces had regrouped and were attempting a sweeping attack.

"I see." he said instead, "Well, I guess it's time for you to show me what you got." He charged at a passing Sky Grasper, taking it out easily.

Leer nodded to herself, she took off after him. _'We must work quickly to end this'_ she thought avoiding fire. "Athrun!" she yelled out loud, "Just so you know I only have 20...oh, now 19 minutes of flight power left."

"Right..." Athrun responded, obviously distracted.

He charged a Sky Grasper head on. Leer came up, further behind the Aegis, acting at a distraction. As the Grasper fired Leer rolled to the right and Athrun to the left. As the Grasper passed between them they both ripped off a wing. No longer supported by wings the Grasper plunged towards the ground. Leer hoped the others would be just as easy, but she doubted the others were fool enough to come so close. If she used energy-based weapons, like her energy cannons or beam sabers, her battery would drain faster and she needed all the power she had.

"Lets take the fight to a lower altitude. The close quarter combat will be harder for them."

"You're the expert." she muttered sarcastically. Inside she wondered, _'Does he even consider that going to a lower altitude would be safer for me if my power cuts out sooner then expected?'_. She tried to shrug it off, she was the newbie after all. She focused on the fact that she had only had 17 minutes left.

Athrun dove and Leer followed, just before hitting the ground they twisted apart in opposite directions. Leer landed and skidded a good distance and brought her energy cannon up, took aim and fired at the Grasper that had followed them into the dive. The craft exploded and crashed into the ground with a shower of sparks and fire.

Athrun was handling the ground forces quite nicely on his own, so she took to the air again. She would handle the sky..for as long as she could.

The Elemental jolted forward as an energy surge from the battery fired up. "Not a good sign." she mumbled. Those surges were bad for the battery, possibly damaging it permanently. It would take her a while to build a new one... She quickly shook her head. She had to survive this first before she looked to the future. The Elemental then slowed, much slower then its top speed. She took a quick glance at the energy gauge that was keeping track of how much time she had left. Only 8 minutes now..

She cursed in rage, put all her frustration into the controls and slammed the Elemental's fists into the noses of 2 passing Graspers. "Die!" she shrieked. The two crafts spun to the ground after the crippling impact ending in a violent crash. She noticed another was about to pass beneath her. She immediately cut the Elemental's engines and free fell, feet angled as if to land. The Elemental's feet smashed into cockpit and the right wing, utterly destroying it and ending the piolets life quickly. She jumped away from it and took flight again, leaving it to fall to the ground, never to rise again.

There were only 4 crafts left now but she had only 3 minutes of power to fly on. She would have to make her last attack count. Raising the energy cannon that was on the right wrist she took carful aim. "You should have let us go," she hissed. She hoovered to be accurate, focusing on the Grasper heading strait for her. Another was behind it, attempting some kind of maneuver. "But now I have to kill you." she yelled, putting more anger into the cannons fire. The shot hit the lead Grasper dead on and the one behind it received the remaining energy of the shot and the debris of his comrades craft. Both spiraled down together and crashed.

Unfortunately, the use of her cannon cost her dearly. She was reduced to a little less then a minute of time. She immediately began her decent.

"Athrun! I'm out of time!" she yelled reluctantly over the comm. link. "I have to land. Then I'll only have backup power for an hour..no flight from here on out."

"Right. Recover Nicol..!" He was about to say more but was cut off again. He dodged 2 missiles and returned fire. They shot again but this time he dipped sharply and destroyed his opponents.

Leer landed as her thrusters gave out. She maneuvered the Elemental over to the Blitz that was laying battered, broken and forgotten on the battle field. She tired to reach him thought the comm. link but didn't even get static. She guessed he had lost all power.

She was about to pick the Blitz up when machine gun fire peppered the area between them.

"Damn it! Leave us alone! You've lost!" she spat. She was tired and no longer in the mood to put up with this. The Elemental drew what looked like a beam saber handle from its waist. She charged the low flying Grasper and at the last moment flicked the blade on. It was a mere dagger but sliced through the metal of the Grasper as if it was butter. It took off the whole wing and the Grasper's nose began to dip downwards.

"What the..?" the piolet gasped. It was too late to bring up the nose. It struck a boulder and did a summer-salt before exploding.

She quickly turn the blade off and put it away. She went to the Blitz and picked up what was left of it. The EA forces were finally pulling back, having lost all there Sky Graspers but one. Athrun provided excellent cover for their retreat to the ZAFT base, Caress.

"I hope Nicol is alright.." Athrun whispered sadly. He too looked tired.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's only lost power. If I hadn't slowed his fall though.. things would have ended differently." she fell silent and thought for a moment, "How long has he been fighting in a mobile suit?"

"About as long as I have. He was on some other ships before the Vesalius though. I can't remember their names now.." Athrun answered confused

"Meh, the names don't matter." she shrugged carelessly.

"Why do you ask?" he inquired suspiciously.

"Well, I would have thought that someone as experienced as him would have known that he was running on his APU (Auxiliary Power Unit)." she snorted blatantly.

Athrun remained silent, knowing that this was an insult to Nicol...

_(Time lapse)_

A little over an hour later they stood outside the hanger of the ZAFT base Caress. Nicol's mobile suit had already been brought inside on a transport truck, but the Elemental just stood there unmoving. Athrun, in the Aegis, came out to help with a large transport truck with a mobile suit carrier following.

The Elemental had run out of power, just outside the hanger. Leer could see the white-haired Yzak and blond Dearka through the hanger doors, laughing it up on a catwalk. She leaned back in the Elemental's seat, putting her hands behind her head and crossing her legs casually. Athrun helped lift the Elemental into the carrier.

She had decided to stay inside her mobile suit till inside. She felt safer in it, even when it didn't have power. Something about the familiar surroundings put her at ease.

Once inside the hanger the Elemental was put into a line with the other mobile suits. Athrun brought the Aegis to stand to her right. She glanced to the left and noticed it was the Duel.

"Hmm.." she mused as the Elemental came to a jolting stop.

She had been brought into a perfect line with the others and was now two feet away from the cat walk. She opened the hatch and stepped out onto the lower platform that acted as a bridge to the catwalk. She walked out to the main catwalk as Athrun came running up.

"You alright?" he asked shocked. He had expected to find a shell shocked damsel in distress, not a cool, calm glance.

"Yes. Perfectly fine." she smiled, "How's Nicol?"

"He has a few burns on his forearms but otherwise he's fine also...thanks to you..so he says.."

She grinned, glad to accept any compliments offered. "I wasn't about to let him die. He helped me earlier so I helped him. It was a fair trade."

"So..you'll only help us..if we do something for you..?" he asked taken aback.

"Well... yeah. Isn't that how it works? If you help me, I help you?"

Athrun stared at her in shock, "No!" he was baffled that someone would say this, "Why would you think that! You do things for each other because your friends and you want them to be happy. Then they help you because they want you to be happy also. It's a bond. You work together. How could you say something so... so business-like about peoples lives!"

She pursed her lips, "Well, I've never had friends. So I guess I don't know... what it's like to be happy!" she snapped at him and stalked away.

Athrun stood there perplexed, "What...did I say..?" he whispered to the empty air around him.

_(Time lapse)_

Leer frowned as she walked slowly down an empty, Spartan style hallway. She was on her way to the mess hall but as usual she was thinking..thinking too much. She was reflecting on what Athrun had said. _'You do things for each other because your friends...'_. She blinked. She hadn't had an friends for nearly 6 years now. She had always been alone, isolated. She had liked her solitary confinement. It had suited her well. All her life she had done things by trading. Someone helped her, she helped them. Someone gave her food, she'd do some kind of chore in return to pay for it. It made sense. She started wondering, _'What is life without people?' _Leer already knew what was that was like, but what was it like_ with_ people?_ That, _she did not knowSo far it had gone poorly. She would have to be nicer to people, hide her true feelings.. her true reactions if she wanted friends. _'I'll be nice to the next person I see!' _she promised herself firmly. As she approached the mess hall and put a smile on her face. There was sure to be people inside the dinning hall.

She reached to press the button, but before she could even touch it the door hissed open. It was Yzak and Dearka, talking about battle simulations by the sound of it. They stopped talking when they saw her. Leer damned her conscious thoughts to hell for making such a promise to herself. _'To the first person she saw'_, what slop!

"Are you moving or what?" Yzak retorted with a superior air.

"Hello to you too, Yzak." she said tightly, trying to remain calm.

Yzak smiled confidently, "What was your name again...? Lee? A boys name is it not?" he sneered.

"Of course.. Yack." she smiled deviously.

Yzak turned red. Dearka laughed and tried to make it more of a snort, as Yzak glared at him.

"Aw! Of course this is all in good nature, right? You call me 'Lee' I call you a..."

Dearka cut her off seeing that where she was going would provoke the situation, "Oh, I just remembered! Creuset wants us to gather in the briefing room."

There was a threatening silence.

"Sure..now?" Leer asked, her eyes thin and glaring at Yzak.

"Yes." Dearka nodded vigorously, "You can follow us.."

"If you don't know the way!" Yzak finished harshly, still a little red but grinning evilly again.

They headed down the hallway, leaving her to stand alone. She stared after them. _'I failed.'_ her mind raged at her. Physically she tried to shrug and entered the mess hall. She picked up an apple and headed back the way she had come, alone.. and with tears in her eyes.


	7. Phase 7: Acceptance

A/N: nothin' much to say here. No one really seems to be into my gundam fic..so basically I'm writing for myself now and for the few reviewers (the one reviewer) I have. Well..I'll be on my deoressed little way... tears

**_Acceptance_**

Leer somehow found her way to the briefing room in her melancholy state. She stood before the door. She had a depressing feeling inside that she was no longer the 'innocent civilian' anymore. She was no longer considered 'harmless' or neutral. She had taken a side. Her father had always said to _never_ take sides or support a specific organization because that's how wars started... that the other countries would feel threatened or disagree with a choice. Then you find yourself caught between two or more forces that threatened to pull you under. Then again, this had been said several years ago by a man who had died.. _because_ he hadn't taken a side.

'_You never know what the 'right' choice is until you make one.'_ her mother had said. Leer had made a choice. To stand with fellow Coordinators, for the time being at least. She shook the phantoms of her parents from her mind. Their words had helped her throughout the years, the ones she could remember, but now she was on her own. Her parent's ideals didn't apply to this new age. Or did they? She would find out soon enough.

She stood up straighter and pushed the button. The door before her hissed open and she stepped inside. The briefing room was rectangular in shape and had one long row of chairs that sat before a large table. The only light came from the lamp hanging above the table so she had to squint a little until her sight adjusted. She looked to Creuset apologetically for being late. He nodded and gestured for her to enter. She walked in, the door hissing closed behind her, and she saw that each seat was filled.

She spotted Nicol two seats down the line of chairs. His arms were bandaged lightly and he wore a loose shirt, probably meaning that his chest was bandaged as well. He smiled and waved at her. He seemed fine. To his left was Athrun who nodded a greeting. The two seats to Athrun's left had people she had only seen once or twice but hadn't caught their names. The blond sat quietly looking at her through his long bangs and the red head waved smiling. She nodded and began to walk down the row of about ten chairs. She realized quickly that here were only enough seats for the original piolets. She came to the end of the row and frowned. She'd have to stand. She turned to face the table and put her hands behind her back standing as she thought a soldier would.

Creuset began once all was quiet again. "Now that the repairs to the Vesalius are complete and our new piolet ready, it is time to finally take down the Legged ship!" There were several voiced agreements but the red head raised his voice over them all.

"Who's the new piolet?"

The blond elbowed his companion and nodded to Leer.

"Correct Miguel, Miss Lahara is our new piolet." Rau confirmed.

"A girl?" the red head wrinkled his nose at first.

"She's a decent fighter Rusty." Athrun offered in her defense, "I've seen her hold her own against EA forces."

Leer just glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, slightly tilting her head toward him at a downward angle. Her hair fell over her eyes cancelling a glare. She could care less about what everyone thought, but did they have to keep riding on the fact that she was a woman?

Rusty thought for a moment, staring at her and said with a shrug, "Cool, I always said there needed to be more women in the military."

Leer smiled wryly, staring at the floor now. _'But of course,' _she thought,_ 'you only want women here to fight, not for...other...reasons._' She watched Miguel nod agreeing with his friend.

Rau cleared his throat, "Now, to avoid wasting time on introductions the new piolet in Miss Leer Lahara. She will be piloting the..." he tried to remember the name, something that had to do with waether..

"The Elemental." Leer filled in quietly.

"Ah yes, the Elemental. The new mobile suit will be fighting with us now so we will make the needed changes in strategy today. The Legged ship will be seeking refuge in Panama. Calculating how fast the ship had been so far we estimate the ship will be there by morning tomorrow. According to..."

Leer stopped paying attention as a holographic map rose up from the table. She knew nothing about this 'Legged ship'. She assumed it was some EA vessel that they were chasing. She didn't really care. Anything that could be shot could be taken down and destroyed. She was quite confident that they'd get it. She was more interested in the conversation next to her that was about..well.._her_.

"So, she.._saved_..you?" Yzak whispered to Nicol.

"If not for her I wouldn't be here." Nicol blushed, embarrassed at having to be rescued.

Yzak snorted, "I'll believe it when I see it!" Yzak turned his gaze to her. He seemed to be sizing her up, weighting her worth.

She thinned her eyes,_ 'Bastard.' _she thought sourly.

"I don't think there are any women in the Mobile Suit Forces (MSF) yet. We're the first to accept one. The PLANTs Supreme Council might be up in arms about it.." Dearka muttered, eyes on the hologafic map, paying half attention to both conversations.

"_If_ they find out.." Yzak mused.

"I think Creuset will keep it under low profile for a little while, you know, for her to prove her abilities. I mean, if she dies then Creuset can say there was never a girl on the sip to begin with. There would be no problem." Dearka added thoughtfully.

"May be.." Yzak muttered unconvinced as they were forced to end the conversation for now as Rau's lecture turned to a new strategy that would be using the new piolet.

The briefing didn't turn out to be so 'brief'. Leer found herself shifting from foot to foot for nearly two hours now. People kept bringing up new topics or flaws in a plan. To her is was simple, as simple as he tired mind wished to make it, and that was to just win! Do whatever it takes, just come out on top. They were making this sound like an impossible mission.

Several more moments ticked by, Rau was rambling about some other unorthodox maneuvers, when she voiced her annoyance. She shifted, letting out a huge sigh without thinking.

Everyone turned to her.

She was staring at the floor, rubbing the ball of her shoe on the floor when she noticed that the room had fallen silent. She looked up to find that all eyes in the room on her. She fidgeted. She went red, embarrassed and confused.

Then she remembered her rudeness, "Oh..I..uh...sorry.." she finished in a tiny voice. She bowed her head in shame for the lack of self control and containment.

Yzak, making a show of it, let out his own deep annoyed sigh and stood. He stepped away fron his seat and with a wave offered it to her. She stared at him, suspicious. He raised an eyebrow in a friendsly manner. She couldn't tell if it was mocked kindness or not. She sighed inwardly, _'A little rat one minute and a gentleman the next, I'll have to keep an eye on him.' _she thought, thinking of the tricks 'his kind' would pull.

She smiled mirroring his kindness, "Thank you." she gratefully took the seat, resisting the urge to stretch and yawn. She rubbed her aching thighs, though her calves felt worse. She would be even sorer ib the morning she realized, sadly.

Yzak bowed, somewhat, and took Leers place standing to the right of Dearka. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes again. He stood tall and proud, chin up and eyes commanding as if he was the commander himself. He obviously had the bloated ego and the air of self-righteousness for the job.

She then glanced at his comrades. They seemed to be admiring Yzak's 'generosity' to the 'lady'. She smiled ruefully, she didn't consider herself a lady, more like a ruffian or a tomboy.

Rau nodded his approval and continued.

The meeting didn't last much longer. After ten more minutes they were dismissed. Leer, as usual, left by herself. She didn't even notice running footsteps coming towards her or people calling her name. She finally stopped and glanced over her shoulder.

Athrun, Nicol, Rusty and Miguel ran up to her. Athrun and Nicol on her right and Rusty and Miguel on the left. She looked at all of them, curious.

"So you were the piolet of that 'Little Wing'!"

Leer was a little taken aback but nodded, "Yeah. Uh..Little Wing?"

"Oh, that's what we called it because we didn't know it's real name." Miguel explained. His voice was much lighter then she had expected compared to her thought of deep and mysterious.

"Great! As I said we need more women in the army." he said enthusiastically.

Athrun coughed rather loudly.

"What?" Rusty asked defensively.

Athrun sighed, humor tinging his voice, "Only you would say something like that Rusty."

"What's that supposed to mean!" he yelled turning red.

"Oh, nothing." he replied innocently.

Leer smiled putting her hands in her jacket's pockets. She was wearing the same clothes that she had worn when she had first arrived. She was beginning to wonder what she was going to wear for the next few days. Rau had offered her a mans uniform, but she had said 'no'. Not only would the blood red color clash terribly with her deep purple-indigo hair (she wasn't really worried about fashion but the uniform was enough to turn her stomach), but it wouldn't fit her properly. She kept it to herself that, even if Rau came up with a woman's uniform, that she wouldn't wear it. When she and Rau had talked about this in private she had said, "Who wears a skirt in the military? Are they insane! I'm _not_ wearing one!". He had said, "Tough. You'll be excused as a civilian. You have to." He had refused to discuss the matter any further. She had been furious at the time, but now she stopped caring. She'd find a way around it. Though, Rau had a point. She had been excused as a civilian at least 18 times. If it hadn't been for the temporary pass that Creuset gave her, she would have been detained for trespassing.

"So, where are you from?" Miguel asked casually as they continued walking.

She paused, thinking of what to say. "I was..born in ORB." She had little intention of telling them much more.

"Oh, a neutral country ay? So, why where you in Saylin?" Rusty asked, being his nosy self. I was a harmless question, though.

She looked at him, annoyed. Then stared strait ahead. She thought for a few minutes. She was trying to stay as close to the truth as possible so she wouldn't get caught up in her lies. She was opening her mouth to respond when Athrun cut in, "It's none of our business." he nodded firmly. Athrun had been avoiding her since her outburst outside the Elemental.

Leer smiled at him thankfully.

Rusty looked a little taken aback and Miguel thinned his eyes. Rusty was the first to recover, "Well, glad to have ya onboard." He patted her on the shoulder and he and Miguel turned down a hall way to their left. Leer looked at her shoulder, the one he had touched, and then at the retreating boys. _'At least they're not enemies..' _she thought. The three of them walked in silence for another moment or two.

"You know, you'll have to give all that information eventually for your security card and military registration." Nicol informed her.

"Yeah..I know." she said still deep in thought.

"But that's not our business, now is it Nicol?" Athrun said smiling mildly.

"No..no it's not." Nicol muttered, agreeing.

Leer smiled. He was treating her like this after her outburst? She had thought he would be mad and not want to talk to her anymore. Was this what it was like to have friends? She felt good. She liked it, a lot. She wasn't expecting anyone to protect her, to give their life for her, but it was nice to know that she had friends who would stand with her in a situation.

"You'll tell us when you're ready, right?" Athrun asked, though it didn't sound like a question, more like a fact.

"Yes..when I'm ready.." she mused. She then looked up at them, "What about you? If I may ask? Where are you from?" Almost before she even finished her sentence the intercom blared, 'Athrun Zala, Yzak Joul, Dearka Elsman, and Nicol Amalfi, please report to the hanger immediately.'

"Perhaps another time." Athrun said nodding a farewell. He and Nicol quickly took off towards the hanger. She could hear their voices as they jogged down the hallway. They had no idea what was going on. Leer herself was curious but she hadn't been called.

She shrugged and stood there, putting her hands on her hips, "Huh, so this is what it's like..to be accepted.." she said thoughtfully.


End file.
